Knitting for Troops Honored by Denver City Council

Hi fellows knitters....sorry to have been mum for so long, I have been a little under the weather, but I'm back and rarin' to get back to knitting!

I want to start off by telling you about a very exciting happening in our local knit world. Last Monday, July 20, at the Denver City Hall, in the City Council Chambers (a beautiful room), Councilwoman Carla Madison submitted Proposal #34 citing the Denver Public Library and its Director of Cultural Programming, Chris Loeffelmacher, for our fabulously successful "Knitting for the Troops" program.

This project began with a class at the library, as part of its Fresh City Life program in July 2008. We produced a goodly number of hats and the idea began to spread to other shops and knitting groups. So, in January of this year, Chris created a statewide marathon on a Saturday, as Knitting For the Troops Day. Most of our local shops, Showers of Flowers, Lambshoppe and Shuttles, Spindles and Skeins opened their doors for the day to all knitters who wanted to spend their day knitting hats. In addition, Whole Foods grocery chain opened up their meeting rooms in 11 branches to hat makers. There were snacks and good feelings shared by all. Down at the Denver Main Library they even had some great entertainment. We are still receiving hats from all over incuding a box from London, England wishing us well. So far, as the proclamation stated, 13,000 hats have been sent to the USO and still sending.

By the way...thanks to Meredith Gabow, a real Fresh City Life advocate, who got the City Council involved. And thanks to all the knitters who contributed their time and talents to make this possible!

If any of you would like the pattern for the hat, it is available on line at www.denverlibrary.org/capsproject.

I'm so glad to be back and I expect to be bringing some informative and interesting things to you as well as patterns for new yarns!

Special Event this Saturday at LambShoppe!

As you know, I spend one day a week with my good friends at LambShoppe in Denver. This Saturday, May 16th, they are hosting a very special event:

A Day with ANN MCCAULEY

Colorado's own Ann McCauley, author of the newly published Together or Separate: Knitting the New Twinset and The Pleasures Of Knitting: Timeless Feminine Sweaters. Ann will be in LambShoppe to teach two classes on May 16th.

Ann will also have a Trunk Show and a Book Signing on May 16th. She can be seen in the Knitty Gritty episode known as Delightful Details. She teaches knitting locally and nationally at yarn shops, guilds, and large knitting events. Ann recently taught for Stitches West at the end of February. She has also begun to design for Louet Yarn Company.

I MADE IT AND I LOVE IT (AND IT FITS)
Ann's 1st Class! Learn ways to enhance your sweater knitting for a professional finish. Swatching, gauge, quality of knitting, measuring, fit, shaping, blocking, seaming and more! It's the small details that make a big difference.

ALIGN AND BALANCE WHILE KNITTING(aka Pilates for Knitters)
Ann's 2nd Class! Explore how your body alignment and comfort affects your ability to knit and do other handwork. Awareness, alignment, body mechanics, self-help hand-care and pressure points are just some of the topics we'll cover.

Contact LambShoppe at 303-322-2223 for more details and to register.

I've known Ann since she published her first book, and she is talented, creative, friendly and helpful. I'm sure you will enjoy the experience, whether you go for a class or just to get your book signed!

As a reminder, I offer workshops at LambShoppe every Tuesday afternoon and evening, so pick your pattern, and let's get started!